A mum-of-three was left devastated after a fire caused by an e-bike battery ripped through her kitchen.

Jess Hooley, 28, took her three children, aged 13, nine and four, out for lunch on March 8 - and says she was away for "an hour-and-a-half, tops" before returning. "

Her eldest's e-bike battery was left charging on her kitchen counter - and when the family came home, they found their kitchen "burned from the inside-out." "

Now, Jess, who cares for her disabled son full-time, is spending every penny she has on home repairs - and has spent £300 so far on new kitchenware, due to not having home insurance.

The family are living upstairs in the house, in one bedroom, in the meantime.

She hopes to raise enough money to revamp the downstairs of her house - cleaning the smoke damage, replacing the floor and making it a safe, liveable space again.

Jess, from Barnsley, South Yorkshire, said: "I've been crying every day - I'm buying everything myself. We're trying so hard. "

"It's like a hotel in one bedroom at the moment - it's so cramped. "

"But if it wasn't for the donations we've received so far, we'd still be living in my mum's caravan."

On March 8, Jess took her three children out to lunch, and left her son's Revvi e-bike on charge unattended.

She says the instructions said batteries had a maximum of six hours charging time - and she thought it would be safe to leave it for "less than two hours."

But at 2pm, when she returned, she saw the house destroyed - and firefighters inside, trying to tackle the blaze.

Her neighbour had raised the alarm after "smelling burnt bacon" - and looked out the window to find black smoke coming out of the window. "

"It was just a freak accident, the lithium battery must've exploded," Jess added. "

"If my neighbour hadn't heard the smoke detector and called the fire brigade, the house would've just basically exploded."

Family dog, one-year-old American bulldog Daley, was treated on the scene for smoke inhalation, but is now fine.

The downstairs of Jess' home was left in a state of disrepair, with severe smoke damage to the walls, counters and floor.

Her appliances were covered in soot, and she was advised to get rid of them, because she risked electrocution by plugging them back in.

The family temporarily moved to Bridlington, east Yorkshire, to live in a caravan while local authorities fixed her kitchen cupboards, countertops and wall tiles.

"Everything was just black," Jess said. "

"We need to replace everything - it's s**t."

On March 15, Jess returned home with her children, and the family have been living in her upstairs bedroom ever since.

She's determined to repair the house herself, and has already spent £350 on new kitchen appliances from B&M.

But the mum-of-three says she only has £150 left to replace everything, and is only able to rely on donations.

She said: "The council, thankfully, cleaned the house - they did an amazing job."

"We're trying our best, but everything is so smoke damaged, nothing could be saved."

"I've been quoted £600 for a replacement floor alone."

Jess wants to discourage other people from leaving e-bike batteries charging unattended.

She hopes parents will think twice about leaving the house while a battery is on charge.

"Don't leave your e-bike battery on charge - it's not worth it," she said. "

"Just be careful with it - this is something no-one thinks will happen to them. "

"But it happened to us."

Jess' GoFundMe page can be found here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/jess-hooley-house-fire